阿比盖尔(merrill Lynch) is a research scientist at the National 617888九五至尊娱乐变化 and Wildlife 617888九五至尊娱乐 Center at the U.S. 地质调查所. She earned her doctorate at the Michigan State University Department of 鱼eries and Wildlife for her dissertation titled: “Designing a decision-support tool for harvest management of Great Lakes lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in a changing climate,并获得了环境617888九五至尊娱乐与政策专业的博士学位. 她收到了M。.S. 弗吉尼亚海洋617888九五至尊娱乐研究所的海洋617888九五至尊娱乐博士, 威廉玛丽学院, for her thesis research titled: “A molecular analysis of Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) stock structure.随后，她被授予了一年的优等生. 美国科诺斯海洋政策奖学金.S. 鱼 & 野生动物管理局渔业项目总部办公室. 她的学位是B.S. 生物学和B.A. 弗吉尼亚大学的英语老师.
Dr. 阿比盖尔·林奇一直觉得鱼很迷人, but it wasn’t until a study abroad trip to the tiny remote island of San Salvador in the Bahamas that she really got hooked on science. 在旅途中, 她必须发展自己的研究项目, and she chose to study the behavioral response of a particular species of fish to the shape of predators and other competitors. Lynch enjoyed designing and implementing her own project so immensely that when she returned to the United States, 她承担了一个鱼类生物学的本科研究项目.
今天，作为美国渔业研究生物学家.S. 美国地质调查局(USGS), 林奇向决策者提供617888九五至尊娱乐信息, 资源管理器, and the public to support science-informed decisions about the management of lands and natural resources. 关于她的职业生涯所采取的管理和政策导向的方向, 她反映了, “我觉得617888九五至尊娱乐探究很有趣, 但我更满足于有应用的研究. …. 在联邦机构的框架内, 我们所有的研究都是为了公众利益, 对我们来说，为政策制定提供617888九五至尊娱乐依据是很重要的.”
“鱼的四个f”
Lynch got involved in fisheries work because she 虽然t fish were remarkable animals, but has stayed because she came to believe they are integral parts of our ecosystems. 在最近的一篇社论中, 她将这种重要性描述为“鱼的四个f”:食物, 有趣的, 财务影响, 和功能.
Many of Lynch's research projects—which have brought her to many different locales, including the remote wilderness of Alaska—illustrate the interrelationships between fish and the larger ecosystem. 在一个项目中, 例如, 她研究了大西洋鲱鱼的局部枯竭, 作为大鱼(如条纹鲈鱼)的食物的小鱼, 可能是商业捕鱼造成的.
在另一个项目中, 为了她的博士研究, 她研究了五大湖白鱼的商业捕捞. 白鱼, 在那个地区已经捕捞了几千年的鱼, 不仅在生态上重要，在文化和经济上也重要吗. 关于617888九五至尊娱乐变率的影响已经做了一些517888九五至尊娱乐.g. 冰覆盖和水温)对白鱼招募的影响(i.e. 当幼鱼达到一定大小或繁殖阶段时), and Lynch went a step further by investigating how climate change would potentially affect recruitment. She found that climatic variables affected recruitment in different ways in different locations—例如, 更大的风速使一些地区的招聘人数下降，但其他地区没有. 她承认, “There are other factors [besides science] that will be important for actually determining harvest quotas,但她希望她的研究能为这些渔业的管理策略提供信息.
在美国地质调查局，林奇是一个研究干旱对生态影响的小组的成员. One of the projects examines the implications of changes in the "green wave"—the leading edge of vegetation greening up in the spring that wildlife rely upon for key nutrients—brought by drought and climate change. 她今天的517888九五至尊娱乐, Lynch notes that it is driven by the needs of decision makers to determine policy: “Everything that I do and all the science done within the agency is designed to inform management, 特别是内政部.”
617888九五至尊娱乐为公众服务
Lynch recognizes the challenges some scientists face in working to provide information for decision makers and the public. She notes that within the scientific community there are individuals who shy away from this kind of work because they worry that it will tarnish their objectivity.
她以一种不同的方式探讨617888九五至尊娱乐与政策之间的联系, as an opportunity to help provide objective science to decision makers so that policy and management is grounded in science. “I think that it’s important for us to provide science-based information to others who may not be in the same informed position to help them make better decisions,她解释道, “这不是宣传, 这是一项公共服务.”
林奇在她的职业生涯之外也致力于公共服务. She has written editorial pieces communicating the importance of fish to the public, including “The Four Fs of 鱼: Communicating the Public Value of 鱼 and 鱼eries” and “One 鱼, 两条鱼, 在哪里钓到白鱼?” She has also won an award from the American 鱼eries Society for excellence in the communication of fisheries research to the general public.
“I really enjoy being in science,” Lynch reflects, “because of the discovery aspect of it.“最终, 虽然, she feels most strongly about her ability as a scientist to contribute to society and the policies that shape it: “The work that I do is fulfilling and important because of the application aspect. 我认为自然、鱼类和栖息地非常有趣, but I am almost more excited by the fact that I will be helping people and decision-making processes by providing this objective information.”